The News

 North Korean troops deployed to Russia’s Kursk region have fought Kyiv’s forces on the battlefield, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday, adding that the clashes resulted in fatalities.

Zelensky said 11,000 North Korean soldiers are in the region, where Ukraine’s three-month military incursion into Russian territory has stalled.

Eleven thousand North Korean soldiers or soldiers of the North Korean army are currently present on the territory of the Russian Federation in the border with Ukraine on the north of our country in the Kursk region,” Zelensky told reporters at the European Political Community summit in Budapest, Hungary, on Thursday.

Some of these troops have already taken part in hostilities against the Ukrainian military. Yes, there are already losses, this is a fact.”

He did not specify which side suffered the losses.

The New York Times reported earlier this week that a number of North Korean troops had been killed in a limited engagement with Russian and Ukrainian forces, citing senior US and Ukrainian officials.

 Saturday Night Live" is set to air its seventh episode of Season 50 this weekend with a repeat stand-up comedian-actor at the helm − and days after the 2024 presidential election.

This Saturday's episode will see Bill Burr hosting the show, marking his second time ever on the post-election show, according to NBC. Burr, 56, previously hosted Season 46, Episode 2. 

The 50th season of the live comedy show premiered on Sept. 28. 

Last weekend, comedian John Mulaney hosted the show for his sixth time. Pop star Chappell Roan was the musical guest. 

Here's what to know about the Nov. 9 show, including who the musical guest is and how to watch.

Who is the 'SNL' musical guest on Nov. 9?

Singer-songwriter and producer Mk.gee will be this weekend's musical guest. 

Mk.gee released his debut single "I Know How You Get" in 2017 and released an album called "Two Star & the Dream Police" earlier this year.

How to watch 'SNL' on Nov. 9?

The Nov. 9 "SNL" episode will be available to watch live on NBC at 11:30 p.m. ET/8:30 p.m. PT. Viewers can also stream it the next day on Peacock.

Who is in the Season 50 'SNL' cast?

Former cast member Maya Rudolph has played the role of Vice President Kamala Harris in the lead-up to the November presidential election while James Austin Johnson reprised his role as President-elect Donald Trump, who claimed victory this week.

Season 50 returning cast members include:

• Michael Che
• Mikey Day
• Andrew Dismukes
• Chloe Fineman
• Heidi Gardner
• Marcello Hernández
• James Austin Johnson
• Colin Jost
• Michael Longfellow
• Ego Nwodim
• Ashley Padilla
• Sarah Sherman
• Kenan Thompson
• Devon Walker
• Emil Wakim
• Jane Wickline
• Bowen Yang

New cast members this season are:

Ashley Padilla

• Emil Wakim
• Jane Wicklin

 The first season of Netflix and Riot’s Arcane animated series fashioned disparate pieces of League of Legends lore into a beautiful, devastating tale about a society on the brink of collapse. The show infused each of its characters with a depth and complexity that felt unlike anything Riot had done elsewhere in the longrunning franchise. And its commitment to telling its own story made it remarkably easy for new fans to dive in.

Arcane’s first season ended with a literal bang — an explosive attack from Jinx (Ella Purnell) on the elite council members of Piltover just as they were about to sign a peace treaty that would have brought an end to their war on the impoverished people of Zaun. Though Jinx’s attack was rooted in years of personal psychological torment and her growing up as part of Zaun’s abused, disenfranchised underclass, it was a moment that made her sister Vi (Hailee Steinfeld) see truly her as a terroristic monster. It wasn’t clear who might emerge from the smoking rubble in the end, but there was no question about how much harder Piltover would retaliate with its dangerous Hextech weapons.

Arcane’s second season picks up in the immediate aftermath of the attack to emphasize the sheer amount of destruction Jinx caused in her crusade to make Piltover pay for its history of injustices. With so many of Piltover’s political leaders dead, the city’s priorities and its balance of power have to shift in ways that feel necessary to Vi and other survivors like enforcer Caitlyn Kiramman (Katie Leung). But while the new season takes some time to make you appreciate the magnitude of Piltover’s loss, it pushes this act of Arcane’s story into motion by exploring how oppressive societies create the monsters they ultimately come to hate and fear.

Everyone suffers as Arcane moves its characters into a new phase of conflict, but the show uses Vi and Jinx in particular to highlight how profoundly war can unmoor people from their senses of self. It’s easier for the sisters to let one another go than it is for either of them to see themselves in the other’s face. And when presented with chances to channel their feelings into action, it seldom occurs to them how fighting just to hurt the other side is guaranteed to cause self-inflicted wounds.

Arcane repeatedly echoes that idea as it briskly shifts focus to the rest of its cast and brings the devastating danger of Hextech into sharp focus. Inventor Jayce Talis (Kevin Alejandro) and politician Mel Medarda (Toks Olagundoye) can understand the gravity of the escalation her warhawk mother Ambessa (Ellen Thomas) is hungry for. But that foresight can only do so much to keep the calls for a full-on invasion of Zaun at bay.

Netflix / Riot

Arcane’s second season uses the rising tension and Jayce’s fears about what he has helped create to delve deeper into the magical mysteries of Hextech with a subplot that zooms far out into new realms of the League of Legends universe. It’s another way the show reinforces its ideas about actions coming with consequences that aren’t immediately obvious up close. And in some of Arcane’s characters, it crystalizes how heavy a price the planet can pay as humanity wages war.

Hextech also features largely in most of this season’s more visually stunning set pieces, which are once again truly the show’s greatest strength. Though the show as a whole is still utterly gorgeous, the action feels even more brutal this time around. On occasion, the “cool” needle drops feel a bit tone deaf because of how frank Arcane is trying to be in its depiction of a society tearing itself apart. But that has always kinda been Arcane’s vibe, and the season really leaning into it will likely appeal to hardcore fans.

Because the stakes are even higher and all of Arcane’s players are now fully locked into the war, this season’s first three episodes often feel more narratively dense and like they’re moving at a much faster pace. That might be more exhausting if the season was dropping all at once, but Netflix has smartly chosen to split it up into three separate acts set to debut through the end of the month. We won’t know until the end of November just how Arcane’s creators intend to bring this story to a close and whether it might set the stage for whatever’s coming next for the franchise. But this first act is a strong opener for Arcane’s final chapter.

 Two members of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus blocked a bipartisan bill on Election night that would have repealed previous measures limiting Social Security benefits for certain retired public workers.

The bill, introduced by Reps. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., and Garret Graves, R-La., would have eliminated Social Security provisions that reduce benefits for retirees who've received a public pension working in a job not covered by the government program, and reduce benefits received by surviving spouses who collect a government pension. 

The bill would affect approximately 2.8 million Americans.

It had received 330 cosponsors including House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. - more than the 218 needed for a petition to force the legislation to the floor.

But Reps. Bob Good, R-Va., and Andy Harris, R-Md., during a pro forma session (a brief meeting of the House where business is typically not conducted) on Tueday effectively tabled the legislation, according to Roll Call.

Graves dismissed the move as a stunt, the outlet reported.

The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the bill would cost about $196 million over ten years, and it comes as the House Freedom Caucus had been demanding spending cuts. 

Richard Fiesta, Executive Director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, a grassroots advocacy organization, called on Johnson to bring the legislation to the floor for a vote.

This issue affects millions of Americans, and the bill to restore their benefit deserves an up or down vote on the merits,” he said in a statement. 

 Tony Todd, the actor who played the titular killer in classic horror film Candyman, as well as appearing in Final Destination, The Rock and Platoon, has died aged 69.

He was also a prolific voice actor, playing characters in the Call of Duty and Half Life games, as well as Venom in the film Spider-Man 2 and the villain in Transformers: Rise of the Fallen.

In the 1992 film Candyman, Todd played the titular hook-handed killer, who is summoned when someone repeats his name five times before a mirror. The horror classic explored racism and social class; Todd’s character Daniel Robitaille was lynched by a white mob on the spot where a public housing project is later built, which he haunts.

In 2019 Todd told the Guardian that he was paid $1,000 extra each time he was stung by a bee in one of the film’s most famous scene. “And I got stung 23 times. Everything that’s worth making has to involve some sort of pain.”

Todd reprised his role in Jordan Peele’s 2021 Candyman reboot.

The actor used his fame for social work, in gang outreach and putting on acting seminars for underprivileged kids. Of Candyman, he said: “I’ve done 200 movies, this is the one that stays in people’s minds. It affects people of all races. I’ve used it as an introductory tool in gang-intervention work: what frightens you? What horrible things have you experienced?”

“The industry has lost a legend. We have lost a cherished friend. Rest in peace, Tony, -Your Final Destination Family,” New Line Cinema, which produced the horror franchise, wrote on Instagram.

He was also a prolific voice actor, playing characters in the Call of Duty and Half Life games, as well as Venom in the film Spider-Man 2 and the villain in Transformers: Rise of the Fallen.

In the 1992 film Candyman, Todd played the titular hook-handed killer, who is summoned when someone repeats his name five times before a mirror. The horror classic explored racism and social class; Todd’s character Daniel Robitaille was lynched by a white mob on the spot where a public housing project is later built, which he haunts.

In 2019 Todd told the Guardian that he was paid $1,000 extra each time he was stung by a bee in one of the film’s most famous scene. “And I got stung 23 times. Everything that’s worth making has to involve some sort of pain.”

Todd reprised his role in Jordan Peele’s 2021 Candyman reboot.

The actor used his fame for social work, in gang outreach and putting on acting seminars for underprivileged kids. Of Candyman, he said: “I’ve done 200 movies, this is the one that stays in people’s minds. It affects people of all races. I’ve used it as an introductory tool in gang-intervention work: what frightens you? What horrible things have you experienced?”

“The industry has lost a legend. We have lost a cherished friend. Rest in peace, Tony, -Your Final Destination Family,” New Line Cinema, which produced the horror franchise, wrote on Instagram.

Todd died on Wednesday at home in Los Angeles after a long illness, his wife, Fatima, confirmed to the Hollywood Reporter on Friday.

Born in Washington DC in 1954, Todd had hundreds of television and movie credits to his name in a 40-year career. One of his first roles was the heroin-addicted Sergeant Warren in Oliver Stone’s Oscar-winning war drama Platoon; he also appeared in 1996’s The Rock opposite Nicolas Cage, played funeral home owner William Bludworth in the Final Destination franchise, and Grange in 1994’s The Crow, with Brandon Lee.

On television Todd appeared in many popular series, including 24, Homicide: Life on the Street, The X-Files, 21 Jump Street, Night Court, MacGyver, Matlock, Law & Order, Beverly Hills 90210, Xena: Warrior Princess and Murder, She Wrote. He also played multiple roles in Star Trek, most prominently as the Klingon Kurn, brother of Worf, in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine.

He was also a prolific voice actor, playing characters in the Call of Duty and Half Life games, as well as Venom in the film Spider-Man 2 and the villain in Transformers: Rise of the Fallen.

In the 1992 film Candyman, Todd played the titular hook-handed killer, who is summoned when someone repeats his name five times before a mirror. The horror classic explored racism and social class; Todd’s character Daniel Robitaille was lynched by a white mob on the spot where a public housing project is later built, which he haunts.

In 2019 Todd told the Guardian that he was paid $1,000 extra each time he was stung by a bee in one of the film’s most famous scene. “And I got stung 23 times. Everything that’s worth making has to involve some sort of pain.”

Todd reprised his role in Jordan Peele’s 2021 Candyman reboot.

The actor used his fame for social work, in gang outreach and putting on acting seminars for underprivileged kids. Of Candyman, he said: “I’ve done 200 movies, this is the one that stays in people’s minds. It affects people of all races. I’ve used it as an introductory tool in gang-intervention work: what frightens you? What horrible things have you experienced?”

“The industry has lost a legend. We have lost a cherished friend. Rest in peace, Tony, -Your Final Destination Family,” New Line Cinema, which produced the horror franchise, wrote on Instagram.